Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The New Englander - The Floor Plan

We've spent a lot of time deciding on the optimal floor plan for this wonderful house. Everyone that's walked through it has had lots of suggestions. And it's been helpful to hear different ideas as we finalize the plans. Whenever someone new wanders through the house, it doesn't take long before they grab the Sharpie and draw their ideas (good thing we're not saving the vinyl floor!)

From a big picture perspective, the house will go from 2 bedrooms to 3 bedrooms. We're adding a half bath on the first floor, adjacent to the mudroom off the back door. And by finishing off sections of the house that are currently not used, we'll have almost 1,500 square ft. Best of all, it's going to have a big new kitchen.

However, given some of our budget challenges, there's more that we'd like to do......but it just doesn't make financial sense. So here's the current plan, subject to change as we go along!

Floor Plans

First Floor - today the usable rooms are the living room and the kitchen/dining room combination. The back room was so drafty that the previous owners rarely used it. We'll be making some structural and insulation changes so that big space can be a beautiful new dining room. It will also have a mudroom at the terrace entrance and a powder room!

Future Second Floor

Current First Floor

Second Floor - Today, the second floor has two bedrooms and a full bath. But there is a wonderful space in the back of the house that we want to use as a new master bedroom (it might not look like much now, but when we're done it will have a vaulted ceiling, larger windows and skylights to flood it with light!). So we'll be reconfiguring the current bathroom and adding a hallway. It's a bit of a challenge to do, since there are sloping roof lines and a chimney flue in the way. But the result will give us a great floor plan with lots of natural light and closets galore.

Current 2nd Floor

Of course, you never know what you might find as you get started on an old house like this. But we're pretty happy with our starting point. What do you think? Of course keep in mind, lots of our budget is going to infrastructure :-)

The only problem I see is only one bathroom for 3 bedrooms upstairs, but I think people who buy older houses have a much higher tolerance for that- the downstairs is so much better- love that floor plan. Are you removing those weird stairs?

I've been wrestling with that as well Mollie. The challenge is how much money we're spending on the garage. If we could scale that back a bit, I could at least put a half bath in the master bedroom (with the sloped ceilings, I'm not sure a full bath would be possible - unless you were very short!!!).

I can absolutely relate to the "you never know what you might find" sentiment. We're living in an 1800's brownstone that was awfully drafty when we moved in. Well, wouldn't ya know that the in sealant for the windows was old newspaper! But, it's all part of the charm and makes for some great stories :)

did i miss something? what did you decide about the falling down garage? going to keep it? what is that space going to turn into? what kind of work is to be done there (other than the foundation, slab etc that you talked about before?)

too bad the door off the patio can't come into the other end of the dining room to be more convenient to the kitchen but i understand the bathrm can't really go anywhere else downstairs. would the dining rm be too narrow if the mudroom was btwn the dining rm and patio-slim long little mudroom with the bathroom in the other corner of that back end wall. the dining room would be longer and narrower but the traffic wouldn't be through the dining room then.don't know the dimensions to know if that is crazy or not...love watching these houses reveal themselves. you have a definate skill and talent to save wonderful old houses and make them more livable spaces.

I love what you do with all your homes, from gutting the place to adding the final accent piece. How do you get started? What are the steps you take once you've found a house to work on? Or do you start with a plan in mind and then go find a house that fits it? Thanks! :)

Those are some great questions. I think I look at each individual house and try to figure out 1) what needs to be done, 2) is it architecturally interesting (or could it be) 3) do the finances make sense? If I was just doing cookie cutter renos, I think it would get boring in a hurry. But by approaching each house individually, it makes it more of a challenge and a lot more fun.

Laurel at SoPo Cottage

About Us

I have a passion for renovating old houses. After 30 years in the corporate world, I wanted to see if I can turn that passion into a business model. My own version of Corporate to Creative! Am I crazy?Maybe, but I want to give it a try.And with the help of some fantastic craftsmen, I’ll share our experiences as we restore, renovate and decorate these houses for today’s modern lifestyle.